How to Set Up Hotmail via POP, IMAP or SMTP

It is possible to set up Hotmail with any mail applications that support IMAP or POP, which are incoming servers that enable you to download messages from Hotmail servers onto your computer using an email client. POP and IMAP are the most recognized email protocols that allow you to access, download and view emails. They let you to get emails from the mail server to your local computer, which is why they are known as incoming email server. While IMAP is the ideal choice when you prefer to access your email account on multiple devices, POP3 works better when you access your email account with just one email client on the same Windows or Mac computer. POP is also the best option if you want to save all emails on your computer and work offline.

Hotmail SMTP servers are the outgoing servers, which give you the possibility of sending emails through your Hotmail or Outlook account from any email application. POP or IMAP should be enabled in Hotmail settings in order to download Hotmail from mail server to your computer or mobile device. Then you would have to set up Hotmail with an email program like Outlook express, Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird or Mail app through IMAP or POP on your device.

How to configure Hotmail with IMAP You can set up Hotmail with an email client that supports SMTP and IMAP using the following settings in the email program: Incoming (IMAP) Server Server address: imap-mail.outlook.com Port:993 Encrypted Connection: SSL

The username would be your full Hotmail email address, including the domain and the password would be the same you use to access your Hotmail account. In most cases, you should set up your Hotmail account via IMAP protocol as it syncs your Hotmail account across multiple devices and computers. Apart from syncing the inbox folder, any action carried on a device would be also synced to the Hotmail server to other mail clients and devices associated to your Hotmail account. On the other hand, POP3 only downloads your emails from your inbox folder offline. This allows you to manage emails on your local computer and in certain cases, you may find that POP3 is more effective for you than IMAP. How to Configure Hotmail with POP3

In order to set up Hotmail via POP3, you would first need to enable POP for your Outlook.com account.

You can follow the below instructions to turn Hotmail POP access on. 1. Log into your Hotmail account 2. Click the gear icon (Settings) and choose Options from the drop down menu 3. In Managing your account, select Connect devices and apps with POP 4. In POP, choose Enable and then Save

You can use the following settings in your email app to set up your Hotmail via POP3. Incoming (POP3) Server Server address: pop-mail.outlook.com Port:995 Encrypted Connection: SSL

Outgoing (SMTP) Server Server address: smtp-mail.outlook.com Port:25 (if blocked, you can choose 587) Authentication: Yes For Encrypted Connection select TLS The username would be your full Hotmail email address and the password, the one you use to access your email address.

Additional Tips for Setting Hotmail via POP There is something that you can consider in order to avoid emails to be deleted from your Outlook.com, once they have been downloaded to your email app. On the server option, you can select Leave a copy of messages. This will ensure that a copy of your messages is saved, even if you accidentally configure POP3 to delete them. The copy of the email will be saved in a folder called POP until you verify the POP3 delete command. This can be done by login into your Outlook.com account, going to Settings, then Options and select Connect devices and apps with POP. Make sure that Enable is selected under POP.

If you want to stop any delete requests, you can select Don’t let devices or apps delete messages. To allow devices and apps to delete messages from the Hotmail inbox, you can select “Do what the device or app says”. Once you have selected your preferences, save the changes. If you keep a copy of your messages on Hotmail server, you will not need to backup them up on your computer or other storage devices. Also it is worth keeping in mind that you can access your Hotmail.com, Live.com and Outlook.com accounts from the same Microsoft email service.

Configure Hotmail via SMTP You can set up SMTP protocol in the same way as you configure POP3 and IMAP. Hotmail Outgoing (SMTP) Server Server address: smtp-mail.outlook.com Port: 25 (you can use 587 if 25 is blocked) Authentication: Yes Encrypted Connection: TLS

In email clients like Outlook, Outlook Express, Android, iPhone and iPad, you may not need to spend too much time completing the Hotmail set up on them as the device or email client may fill up the IMAP, POP and SMTP settings automatically.